I have been asked this question many times in my years of magic. Whether I’m teaching a formal class or someone who is just curious, I always start with this simple card trick.
This is the very first magic trick I ever learned taught to me by my mother. I remember being around 4 or 5 years old and doing this trick over and over again. It was the first time I felt I could really do magic.
Go get a deck of cards right now and follow along. Because if you do, you’ll actually have a magic trick happen to you as you read this article. Trust me it is well worth it, so go find a deck of cards and come back when you’re ready.
Have the cards? OK, continue reading…
From the deck of cards take out the four aces, the four kings, the four queens and the four jacks. Once you have them, place the Aces in a row in front of you like you would playing a game of solitaire. On top of the aces, place the kings, then place the queens and then the jacks so they look like Picture 1.
Scoop up the first row, square them up and place them on the jack of another row. Scoop that row up and repeat till you have collected all the cards into one packet. Picture 2 and Picture 3 show the process.
Turn the entire packet over so the backs of the cards are showing. Now cut the cards into two piles like in Picture 4. Complete the cut by placing the packet that was on the bottom on top of the packet that was the top. This is called a “single cut,” even though we make two piles of cards. Give the packet another single cut and then one more single cut.
It seems the cards are really mixed now!
At this point, take the packet of cards and deal out four piles as if you were dealing in a card game just like Picture 5 shows.
Snap your fingers, wave your hands over the cards and say a magic word that comes to mind.
Turn the piles over! Even though we mixed up the cards, all the cards seemed to have come back to order and our now grouped together!
The Secret:
This really is a great trick and it’s very easy to do because it works all by itself!
If you followed the instructions, the trick should work for you.